Security &amp; privacy

Mark Zuckerberg’s latest trip to China appears to have borne fruit. You know — that unidentifiable spiky fruit you just bought at the Chinese grocery store and now you’re not sure which part you’re supposed to eat.

The aptly named icanstalku.com attempts to expose the dangers inherent in posting information — in this case pictures — online in a rather unconventional way: the site regularly updates its news feed with individuals’ user names and locations, all gleaned from photos posted to Twitter.

The aptly named icanstalku.com attempts to expose the dangers inherent in posting information — in this case pictures — online in a rather unconventional way: the site regularly updates its news feed with individuals’ user names and locations, all gleaned from photos posted to Twitter.

One women was raped and another beaten in Pakistan. Both electronic media and law enforcing agencies, rather than respecting the survivors’ privacy, publicly identified them by their names and gave irrelevant information about them (that they were returning from a ‘dance party’ at 2:00 am), reinforcing the ‘she asked for it’ mindset. The rape survivor withdrew her case. Read the open letter that Take Back the Tech Pakistan wrote to Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh, one of the authorities harmed the survivor’s reputation.

The incidents of war happened in the real world is mirrored in cyber space, given the recent incidents of hacking of government websites by state or non state group of hackers for political, military, espionage purposes.

The OneWorld Platform for Southeast Europe (owpsee) promotes the values of internet as an extremely useful tool and resource for acquisition of new knowledge, but at the same time warns about the possible dangers of abuse of children on internet.

The Association for Progressive Communications says it believes the ability to use the Internet to share information and communicate freely is vital to the realisation of human rights. The association’s statement comes after WikiLeaks website outraged Washington by releasing thousands of secret American documents. The association says the website plays a vital role in aiding the fight against corruption in governments and corporations. According to the association, WikiLeak has enhanced efforts to use the internet to contribute more accountable and transparent governance at global and national levels. The association is the world’s longest-running online progressive network which was founded in 1990.

Restricting free expression, association and the free flow of information on the internet has become a global trend and its intensity and impact is greatest in countries lacking a culture of democracy or strong human rights regimes. People who speak out against repression risk their own freedom and safety and the sites that carry their online denouncements are often censored or banned. A new APC project “Internet rights are human rights” starting in November 2010 builds on our long-standing work including our Internet Rights Charter aims to secure freedom of expression and association on the internet to those who need it most: human rights defenders.